KUALA LUMPUR, JUL 16 (PTI): The Indian Under-17 women’s football team has been drawn with Malaysia, Syria and Iraq in Group E of the AFC Under-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers to be held here from October 5 to 11.
The draw was conducted at the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) House here on on Thursday. India will begin their campaign against Iraq, followed by a match against Syria, and then Malaysia.
The group winners will qualify for the Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup in Suzhou, China from March 31 to April 17 next year.
The Indian team had made a historic first-ever knockout stage appearance in the previous edition and will aim to qualify for back-to-back AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cups for the first time.
The teams will compete in the Qualifiers in a single round-robin centralised league format.
The eight group winners will advance to the 11th edition of the Finals where they will be joined by the top four finishers from the 2026 campaign who have directly qualified. Defending champions North Korea, runners-up Japan, and semi-finalists Australia and China are the direct qualifiers.
The semi-finalists of the women’s Asian Cup will qualify for the FIFA Under-17 women’s World Cup in Morocco next year.
